This invention relates to the collection and disposal of fallen leaves and other lawn debris and more particularly to a novel method and apparatus for such collection and disposal and also to novel merchandising packages for such apparatus, as well as a novel bag closure for net bags.
Numerous devices have been developed to aid the householder in removing fallen leaves from yards and gardens. Leaves are sometimes raked into piles along streets where they are collected by large municipally owned vacuum trucks, sometimes they are burned after raking but local laws often prohibit such burning. Perhaps the most common method presently is to stuff the raked leaves into plastic bags which are then tied and disposed of as trash.
Tarpaulins, blankets or other pickup cloths can be spread on the grass and bundled up after the debris, mainly leaves, is raked or swept onto them. One problem of this method is that the cloth must be staked down to facilitate the raking of debris over the edge thereof. A pickup cloth of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,749,695, issued on June 12, 1956. The pickup cloth in that patent has rigid rods along opposite edges thereof with stakes attached to one of the rods and a detachable carrying handle to the other rod. The stakes facilitate the raking of the leaves into the cloth and after the cloth is filled the two rods are joined and the package carried with the handle. The leaves must be deposited somewhere since the apparatus is obviously not disposable.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,312,263, issued Apr. 4, 1967 shows a tote bag for fallen leaves which is set up on the ground with a flat panel thereof on the ground and the bag held open with a semi-circular support which must be bolted in place when the bag is set up and removed for subsequent storage of the bag. With this tote bag the leaves are simply collected and must be deposited somewhere for ultimate disposal. Also, the leaves must be raked into the bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,653, issued July 24, 1973, shows a metal bracket to which a leaf bag can be attached so that the bag is held open in a position to facilitate the sweeping of leaves therein.
All of the above methods and appliances suffer from one or more of the following disadvantages: The leaf packages are complex, expensive and difficult to manipulate and require raking of the debris into the package. Some are not disposable and hence may require another receptacle for ultimate disposition. Others are not feasible for recycling the organic matter of the leaves and other debris which can be re-used as soil nutrients.
The invention provides a simple, inexpensive and easily manipulated method and apparatus for fallen leaf and lawn debris collection and disposal in a way which facilitates the recycling thereof and also provides a disposable leaf package.